A friend tipped me onto this game a few weeks back, but with my busy schedule of late, I hadn’t gotten a chance to sit down with it, much less review it. Now that I’ve done the playing needed to actually discuss the game, I am able to give an honest to goodness opinion.

At its core, the best way to describe Cargo Commander is an action puzzler. Taking the role of one of these said Commanders, your role is to draw in abandoned containers and extract the goodies from the hold using the various tools at your disposal. All of this grants you supplies and ammo and the ability to complete the task at hand to go on to the next level.

Of course this means that you won’t be doing this easily. There are the requisite alien creatures bent on killing you, to which you can utilize one of your weapons or the environment itself to wipe them out. And yet, they are not the most dangerous thing you face in the game….

Black holes. There you are, minding your own business and peacefully commanding cargo, when one of these rips will form and suck the Read the rest of this entry

Happy Valentine’s Day, all! Whether you like those crazy Hallmark cards or those chalky heart shaped candies, there’s at least something in there for people. And if you don’t like it, there’s always the time honored tradition of yelling at people to stay off your lawn. I’d personally like to do the latter myself, but the Missus won’t let me get away with it.

Anyway, I heard this particularly noteworthy theme, and had to share it. What is it and why? It’s called “Baba Yetu” by Christopher Tin for Civilization. What is the big deal? It’s the first video game theme to win a Grammy, marking the fact that video games are indeed of cultural and artistic significance. It also gives me hope that composers like Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo will finally get their long overdue nods as “proper” music. From the critical standpoint, anyway.

Anyway, check out this theme for yourself. It sounds a bit Lion King to me, but I do like the piece. I’ve been away from posting on here (that crazy “work” thing), but rest assured I’ll be back on this week.

One of my “Top 5″ Atari 2600 games was Haunted House, the first documented nod into the “survival horror” genre. Looking at it today with its multi-colored four floor mansion, the ghosts, the spiders, the bats, and the wandering pair of eyes, it may not seem like much today, but as a kid, it scared the fool out of me at times.

Even today, after downloading it on Game Room, I’ve still found a quick jump or surprise in walking into a room to get immediately ambushed, or running from one of the creatures only to discover a locked door and no key.

What does this all have to do with now?

Haunted House is returning.

It looks different, of course. I don’t know if I’m totally into the graphical style, or how true it will stay to its source material, but it looks to be coming as a download for all major platforms (sans Playstation, for whatever reason).

The main site doesn’t have much going for it right now. Kotaku, however, does have some screen grabs.

We’ll see how this one turns out, but I can’t help but be curious as Atari goes back to the “old days” and resurrects (no Read the rest of this entry

Well, the new Doctor Who game is out in Britain as of this writing, and thanks to a connection of mine, I was able to preview it.

Before I go any farther, I will say that I’ll purchase this game in a heartbeat the second it’s officially released stateside.

I’ve wondered how would be the best way to go about a Doctor Who game. The Doctor himself is largely and primarily non-violent, relying on his wits, his companions, and his trusty Sonic Screwdriver. Faced up against his primary nemesis, the Daleks, how would this translate?

The answer is: Very well.

Sumo Digital (behind Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing) crafted a fine adventure that puts the player in the role of the Eleventh Doctor. I figured at best it would be point and click. This is more of a stealth action game with puzzle elements. It’s not like Metal Gear Solid (or even Sneak King, for that matter). The Doctor doesn’t overcome his enemy with brute force. In fact, he has to sneak around the Daleks at all costs, staying out of their vision, lest he hear the familiar “EX-TER-MIN-ATE”, and he or Amy are shot. And yes, creeping Read the rest of this entry

Getting to know my gaming tastes, one will discover that I like games with a lot of personality. And a sense of humor. That said, after this particular music video, I feel compelled, nay, driven to check this game out:

Portal amused me with it’s catchy, infectious little theme song, and now Plants Vs. Zombies, has also satisfied my need for delightful cheesiness. The girlfriend picked this one up, so I may have to try it out… once I can get her away from the keyboard.

I loathe to promote this due to my disapproval of what the current publisher of these two series has morphed into over the years, but….

King’s Quest and Space Quest are on Steam.

These are some of Sierra’s classic 3D adventure games back from the old computer gaming days. They’re brilliant, classic titles, and I’d highly recommend checking them out.

If you like these sort of games, or wonder what other titles are like this, there are also classic titles such as Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Secret of Monkey Island, and The Dig.

And of course, my recent “classic” favorite: Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People.

At any rate, it’s a good start for some of the newer gaming folk to see what I endlessly babble so much about with all the “childhood nostalgia” and such….

If you try one, be sure to let me know what you think.